Contextual presentation of information about related orders during browsing of an electronic catalog

Abstract

An electronic catalog system, which may be implemented as a web site or another type of interactive system, presents context-sensitive account information to customers during browsing of an electronic catalog of products. In one embodiment, when a customer accesses a detail page for a particular product, the detail page is supplemented with information, such as status information, about a related order placed by the customer. The related order may be an order for the product represented in the detail page or may be for a related product. Information about related orders may additionally or alternatively be added to other types of pages, such as product category pages and shopping cart pages. In one embodiment, a customer's related order information is maintained in a cache during the customer's browsing session, and the cache is updated in real time to reflect actions performed by the customer.

1. A computer-implemented method of providing account-specific information to users of an electronic catalog, the method comprising:
 receiving a request for a product detail page of an electronic catalog of products, said request generated by a computing device in response to selection, by a user of the computing device, of a product to which the product detail page corresponds, wherein the product detail page provides functionality for the user to select the product for purposes of initiating a transaction in which the product is shipped to the user by a business entity associated with the electronic catalog; and 
 in response to the request:
 programmatically accessing account information associated with the user to determine, at least, a date that the product was shipped to the user; 
 generating a message indicating that the product was shipped to the user, said message additionally indicating at least one of: (a) said date on which the product was shipped, and (b) an estimated delivery date; and 
 transmitting the product detail page with said message to the computing device for presentation to the user; 
 
 said method, including receiving the request, accessing the account information, generating the message and transmitting the product detail page, performed by a computerized system that comprises a server. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the product detail page corresponds to a DVD title and provides functionality to select the DVD title to rent. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising incorporating the message into the product detail page, such that the message is presented to the user as part of the product detail page. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the message is transmitted for presentation within a pop-up window that is displayed with the detail page. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the product detail page includes functionality for the user to add the product to an electronic shopping cart associated with the user. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the product detail page includes functionality for the user to add the product to a repository of items selected by the user to obtain from the business entity. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, prior to receiving said request, copying the account information associated with the user from a database into a cache, and wherein programmatically accessing the account information comprises retrieving said account information from the cache. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the step of copying the account information associated with the user from a database into the cache is performed in response to a request from the computing device for a catalog page. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the account information includes or consists of data regarding one or more orders previously placed by the user. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the message indicates said date on which the product was shipped. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the message indicates an estimated delivery date. 
     
     
       12. A computer memory having stored therein a representation of a product detail page, said product detail page generated according to a method that comprises:
 receiving, at a server, a request for a product detail page of an electronic catalog of products, said request generated by a computing device in response to selection, by a user of the computing device, of a product to which the product detail page corresponds, wherein the product detail page provides functionality for the user to select the product for purposes of initiating a transaction in which the product is shipped to the user by a business entity associated with the electronic catalog; and 
 in response to the request:
 programmatically accessing account information associated with the user to determine, at least, a date that the product was shipped to the user; 
 generating a message indicating that the product was shipped to the user, said message additionally indicating at least one of: (a) said date on which the product was shipped, and (b) an estimated delivery date; and 
 incorporating said message into the product detail page for presentation to the user. 
 
 
     
     
       13. Physical computer storage that stores executable code for instructing a computerized system to perform a method that comprises:
 receiving a request for a product detail page of an electronic catalog of products, said request generated by a computing device in response to selection, by a user of the computing device, of a product to which the product detail page corresponds, wherein the product detail page provides functionality for the user to select the product for purposes of initiating a transaction in which the product is shipped to the user by a business entity associated with the electronic catalog; and 
 in response to the request:
 programmatically accessing account information associated with the user to determine, at least, a date that the product was shipped to the user; 
 generating a message indicating that the product was shipped to the user, said message additionally indicating at least one of: (a) said date on which the product was shipped, and (b) an estimated delivery date; and 
 transmitting the product detail page with said message to the computing device for presentation to the user. 
 
 
     
     
       14. The physical computer storage of  claim 13 , wherein the message indicates said date on which the product was shipped. 
     
     
       15. The physical computer storage of  claim 13 , wherein the message indicates an estimated delivery date. 
     
     
       16. The physical computer storage of  claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises, prior to receiving said request, copying the account information associated with the user from a database into a cache, and wherein programmatically accessing the account information comprises retrieving said account information from the cache. 
     
     
       17. The physical computer storage of  claim 13 , in combination with computer hardware that is configured to perform said method by executing said executable code.